Walking the Dog

There is a lot to see on Fairhaven Hill.
This photo collage presents some of the sights you might
encounter on a Fairhaven Hill walk. These include: Walden
Pond, a mansion, landscaped private roads, pets,
southward-facing cliffs, a view to the south, liverwort, a
garter snake, pine needles sorted by heavy rains, a spirit circle,
flooded paths, a well house, and signs of hunting.

Fairhaven Hill is an area of about 600 acres in Concord,
Massachusetts. Of the 600 acres, about 400 acres is
conservation land. As shown on the image below, the largest
area of conservation land on Fairhaven Hill is
Wright Woods. Looking again at the image, Fairhaven Hill is
bounded by Route 2 on the north, a railroad, the MBTA Fitchburg
Commuter Line, on the northeast, Lincoln on the southeast, the
Sudbury River on the southwest, and Sudbury Road on the west.
Conservation land (gray blue), and some trails (dashed-brown
line) are shown. For other details of Fairhaven Hill see
Maps.

A typical walk for me includes parking in the lot off Sudbury
Road (near the arrow on map above). There are no restrictions on
dogs, so I walk with my dog up the paved road to the Concord pumping
station (blue dot). From there, I turn toward the southeast and
walk along the Sudbury River. I pass the mansion formerly owned
by the Binney family.

(Click on the picture to see enlarged image.)

The path runs along the river.

Farther along the riverside path one gets a good view of
Fairhaven Bay.

I continue along the river almost all the way to the
Lincoln town line. From there, I follow the path (dashed-brown
line) to the north and northeast until I reach the railroad
track and the entrance to Walden Pond.

As you can see, dogs are not allowed in the Walden Pond
Reservation. I met a dog walker who had taken her dog into
the Walden Pond Reservation where she was told that she would
be fined $200 the next time she brought her dog into the
reservation.

I proceed northwest along the marked path (dashed-brown line)
to the point where the conservation land (gray-blue) ends. I
turn left onto a path that leads back to the Concord pumping
station and the parking lot. Along the way, one crosses two
landscaped private roads.

Near here one can see that October, November and December
are the months for hunting deer. This sign indicates that there
is no hunting on Sundays. Another sign indicates that there is
no hunting between 9 am and 3 pm on other days of the week. In
any case, it is a good idea to wear some fluorescent orange
clothing that will serve to distinguish you from a deer.

Depending on how many people I talk to along the way,
this walk takes about an hour and a half.

The largest cliff on Fairhaven Hill is about 200 feet above
mean sea level (msl) at the trail along the base. The top edge of
the cliff is about 330 feet msl. The Concord Land Conservation
Trust owns land (indicated in pink) that reaches to the top edge
of the cliff.

There are paths from the left and the right side of the cliff
face. I climbed to the top of the cliff on a dry, sunny day
to minimize my chance of slipping. Still, I had to use extreme
care in choosing my footing. Near the top, one passes through
a crevice that coincides with a weathered basalt dike.

There is a good view from the top.

Having followed me to the top, my dog, Juliet, followed me
back down the crevice. It was easy to tell that this had been
quite a challenge for her.

On a December return trip to the cliff, I encountered striking
ice formations.

If you have half a day to spare, it is possible to complete
a round trip from Fairhaven Hill to Mt. Misery in Lincoln
on to Route 117 and back to the parking lot on Sudbury Road in
Concord. For information on the Mt. Misery conservation area
in Lincoln, you can purchase a copy of "A Guide to Conservation
Land in Lincoln" from the Massachusetts Audubon Society Drumlin
Farm Sanctuary on Route 117 in Lincoln. You should note that
there are two features of Mt. Misery that may affect your trip.
First, Mt. Misery is very crowded on summer and autumn weekends.
Second, dogs must be leashed on many of the trails.

I have made the trek to Mt. Misery twice. The trails cross
private land in Lincoln, presumably on easements obtained by
the town. Topography is varied. The walk is most pleasant.

My list of miscellaneous things includes: a cow path, liverwort,
sorted pine needles, flooded paths, and a spirit circle. The cow
path leads from the Farm at Walden Woods on Route 2 across a dam on
a small stream and on to the Bear Garden Hill conservation area.
This is the easiest way to cross from the farm stand over to the
rest of the Fairhaven Hill trails.

I encountered liverwort on the cliff near the basalt dike.

Sorted pine needles are not something I see very often.
I saw them only once on the day I took this picture on Fairhaven
Hill. As I was trying to take pictures of the pine needles next
to a private dirt road, my dog, Juliet, kept getting in the way.
Then, when a car approached, she ran up to the front bumper.
The exceedingly courteous driver allowed me to collect Juliet,
leash her, and attach the leash to a sapling. As she whined,
I documented the sorted pine needles with a series of photos.

On a December day after a major rainfall event, I decided to
see if I could walk the riverside loop. About a quarter mile
after the Concord pumping station, I encountered a spring
flowing from the hill on the left and then along the path
until it merged with the river. I managed to walk along the
side of the trail. Farther on, at Fairhaven Bay, the trail was
submerged. First, the trail was covered by a few inches of
water. Then, the trail was truly impassable. If you click on
the second small picture below, you will see the full-size
image. If you look carefully, you will see a little white disk
denoting this as a Concord Land Conservation Trust path. The
path is on the right side of that tree in a foot or more of
water. I took the road up the hill and then eventually crossed
over toward Walden Pond before I returned to the parking lot on
Sudbury Road.

My final miscellaneous item is a Spirit Circle. It is located
in a hemlock grove near a main trail. I do not know who created
the Spirit Circle and I do not know its true significance. It has
been there for several months.

Adams Woods is a conservation area straddling the Concord-Lincoln town line between Fairhaven Bay and the railroad. The map is copied from "A Guide to Conservation Land in Lincoln". Note the high quality of the map. This guide may be purchased from the Massachusetts Audubon Society Drumlin Farm Sanctuary on Route 117 in Lincoln. Note the North arrow in the
lower right-hand corner of the map. This is one of two maps in this
section where North is not straight up on the page. The other is the
map of Walden Pond.

I have overlaid my gps tracks on this map. The first calibration point is the trail junction WW31 just east of Pleasant Meadow. The second calibration point is the trail junction WW58 in the southeast corner of the map near the railroad.

For me, the most interesting parts of Adams Woods are Heywood Brook and the trail near Andromeda Pond. The trail "to Mt. Misery" is the official route to Mt. Misery and route 117. The trail "to Old Concord Road" leads across a privately owned farm but does allow one to rejoin the path to Mt. Misery.

Fairhaven Hill is an area of about 600 acres in Concord,
Massachusetts. Of the 600 acres, about 400 acres is
conservation land. As shown on the image below, the largest
area of conservation land on Fairhaven Hill is
Wright Woods. Looking again at the image, Fairhaven Hill is
bounded by Route 2 on the north, a railroad on the northeast,
Lincoln on the southeast, and the Sudbury River on the southwest.
Conservation land (gray blue), and some trails (dashed-brown
line) are shown.

A topographic map of the Fairhaven Hill area shows elevation
contours that let you see where the hills, plains, low areas
(sometimes wet), and sloping valleys are. There is a large hill,
Fairhaven Hill, in the center. The summit is located at the end of
one of the red roads, the middle one on the map. The south side
of this hill is a rocky cliff. This is the location where the
10-ft contour lines are close together.

In the conservation area (pink) to the south, there is a flat
plain where the contour lines are widely space. Toward the
southwest, you can see four V-shaped valleys leading town towards
the river. Close to one part of the river is a smaller cliff.

The conservation area (pink) near the railroad (black and white
dashed line) is another flat plain.

Walden Pond is the large blue area on the other side of the
railroad tracks. Between Walden Pond and the Sudbury River, there
is a series of ponds (light green). The dark green area toward
the southeast is part of Adams Woods, an elevated area.

To clearly see all of this detailed information, you can logon
to the Concord
Geographic Information System (GIS) website. Initially,
the cursor is set to the + sign.
Any time you click on the map, you will zoom
in closer. To find Fairhaven Hill, start at the big H, Emerson
Hospital. Move down and to the right. As soon as you cross
one road, you are on Fairhaven Hill. Click the cursor a couple
of times.

Next, select the Map Layers tab on the left side of your computer
display. Scroll down until you find the Wetlands Conservancy
District. Check that box. The map will reload. Similarly, check
the boxes for Topography, Town Conservation Land, Priv Conservation
Trusts, and Town-Owned Land.

Return to the map and examine the features you are interested
in. If you select the hand symbol above the map, you will be able
to move the map around. If you select the "i" in the blue circle,
you will be able to check land ownership, the elevation for a given
contour line, etc.

The next map is a closeup of the Fairhaven Hill cliff. The pink
point coming in from the left is the Concord Land Conservation
Trust property that includes a part of the cliff. There is a large
house at the summit near the end of Fairhaven Hill Road. This is
private property. Be courteous. Do not trespass.

This photo/map is from the Concord GIS website. I have
superimposed some of my GPS tracks (blue lines) on this image.
You can see the route I took up and down the cliff with my dog,
Juliet.

This image shows tracks of my walks (blue lines) through
mid-October 2008
superimposed on a topographic map. You can see that there are a
great many trails to explore. In several sections, there are
horse jumps made from 6 large logs stacked 3, 2 and 1 and secured
with ropes or cables. They are located both in the valleys to
the southwest and on sections of flat land.

Private roads are shown in red. Parking is not allowed on
these private roads. Parking is limited to the parking lot off
Sudbury Road and on the shoulder of Arena Terrace.

This image shows tracks of my walks (blue lines) through
mid-October 2008 superimposed on a map designating conservation
land. The parking off Sudbury Road is at the western-most track.
You can also park on Arena Terrace at the northern-most track.

If you are walking without a dog, you can see how easy it would be
to venture into the Walden Pond conservation area. You can also
walk to Mt. Misery in Lincoln via the path that includes waypoint
WW32.

Finally, we have a map of Walden Pond. This is one of two maps in
this section where North is not directly toward the top of the page.
The top of the map points to the southwest. To find a North arrow,
you may view the source document,
Walden Map.

For those of you with a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit
capable of uploading data, I have included a
zipped gpx file. To
use this file, first unzip it. On a Windows computer, right-click
the file and select "Open with Compressed (zipped) Folders". Then,
connect your GPS unit to your computer and upload the gpx file using
the software that came with your gps unit.

Once you familiarize yourself with the included waypoints, you
should be able to select a waypoint for your destination and easily
find your way to the waypoint.

The WWPARKSUDBURYR waypoint is the parking area off Sudbury Road.

The WWA waypoint is the parking on Arena Terrace.

The WWF waypoint is the entrance to Walden Pond at the railroad
track.

To walk from Fairhaven Hill to Mount Misery and Route 117, first
walk to the WWF waypoint. Continue to the WWE waypoint. Follow the
series of waypoints WW30, WW31, WW32, WW32. Continue on to MM69.
Then, follow the track to Southwest and you will reach Route 117.
Reverse your walk to return to your starting point.